Demyansk Pocket - Attempted Breakout

Attempted Breakout

On 21 March 1942, German forces under the command of Generalleutnant Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach attempted to leave through the "Ramushevo corridor". Over the next several weeks, this corridor was widened. A battle group was able to break out of the siege on 21 April, but the fighting had taken a heavy toll. Out of the approximately 100,000 men trapped, there were 3,335 lost and over 10,000 wounded. However, their strong resistance had tied up numerous Soviet units at a critical moment, units that could have been used elsewhere. Instrumental in the German breakout, was the first time use of the Mkb-42(H), which would later be re-designated the MP-43 and then finally the StG-44.

Between the forming of the pocket in early February to the virtual abandonment of Demyansk in May, the two pockets (including Kholm) received 65,000 short tons (59,000 t) of supplies (both through ground and aerial delivery), 31,000 replacement troops, and 36,000 wounded were evacuated. However, the cost was significant. The Luftwaffe lost 265 aircraft, including 106 Junkers Ju 52, 17 Heinkel He 111 and two Junkers Ju 86 aircraft. In addition, 387 airmen were lost.

The Soviet Air Forces lost 408 aircraft, including 243 fighters, in a bid to crush the pocket.

Fighting in the area continued until 28 February 1943. The Soviets did not liberate Demyansk until 1 March 1943, with the retreat of the German troops. For his excellence in command and the particularly fierce fighting of his elite unit, 3. SS Division Totenkopf, SS-Obergruppenführer Theodor Eicke was the 88th person to be awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 20 May 1942.

The success of the Luftwaffe convinced Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring and Hitler that they could conduct effective airlift operations on the Eastern front. Göring later proposed a similar "solution" to supply the 6. Armee when it was surrounded in Stalingrad. In theory, the outcome could be equally advantageous; with the 6. Armee trapped, but still in fighting condition, the Soviet army would have to use up much of its strength to keep the pocket contained. This could allow other German forces to re-group and mount a counterattack. However, the scale of the forces trapped in the two operations differed greatly. While a single corps (about ⅓ of an army) with about six divisions was encircled in Demyansk, in Stalingrad, an entire and greatly reinforced army was trapped. Whereas the Demyansk and Kholm pockets together needed around 265 t (292 short tons) of supplies per day, the 6. Armee required an estimated daily minimum of 800 t (880 short tons), delivered over a much-longer distance and faced by a much better organised Red Air Force. The air transport force had already suffered heavy losses, and was much further away from good infrastructure. The Luftwaffe simply did not have the resources needed to supply Stalingrad.